Quantity of Powder Lets Go in the
Ludington Shaft of the Chapin Mine Near Iron Mountain, Michigan, with
Terrible Results This Morning -- List of the Killed.

Iron Mountain, Mich. June 4 - - By the explosion of a
quantity of powder and the suffocating fumes that followed, eight men were
killed early today in the seventh level of the Ludington shaft of the
Chapin mine. Suddenly there was rumble and smoke began pouring from the
mouth of the shaft. Rescuers hurried into the mine as soon as the smoke
had cleared sufficiently and found the eight miners all of whom had been
working in that section of the shaft lifeless.

The cause of the explosion has not been determined. Nearly
thirty children are rendered fatherless by the accident. Only one man was
disfigured, as if by an explosion, and he was slightly; the others were
completely covered by black powder soot. The men were using a powder
thawing machine, and it is thought they neglected to supply it with
powder. It is believed that the machine became red hot, set fire to the
dynamite and the men were stricken down by the deadly fumes before they
could escape. The town is in mourning and work at the mine is at a
standstill.

At approximately 2 p.m. on May 3, a
150-foot section of the road collapsed into the water-filled mine pit.
Four cars and one truck that had been parked near the section were buried
in the cave-in. One person, 26-year-old Irving Trudell, fell in the water
while attempting to save his vehicle. He was quickly rescued by
bystanders. The cause of the collapse was not immediately known.

Less than a month prior to the collapse, a contractor had
started improvements to the section of highway over Chapin Pit. Workers
had been dumping rock off the east embankment and into the water. Some
said that the dumping may have agitated the water in the mine pit, causing
it to wash away the under-structure of the highway.

The pit used to be dry, but water eventually filled it in.
By 1940, the water in the pit was about 90 feet deep, and its surface was
about 40 feet from the surface of the road. Another theory was that the
old mine workings had broken down.

"Looks to me like some old timber down underground got
washed or rotted out and collapsed, taking the ceiling with it," an "old
miner" was quoted as saying. According to some other "old miners," there
were large caverns under the pit that may have "gone down" under the
pressure of the road and water.

However, Superintendent George J. Eisele of the Oliver
Iron Mining company on the Menominee and Marquette ranges said that the
mine working were likely still intact. Residents may have disagreed on
what caused the collapse, but they could all agree that caused a great
disruption to their daily lives.

U.S. 141 and M-95 traffic was detoured around Pine
Mountain, while U.S. 2 traffic was detoured around Lake Antoine. The dirt
detour roads had to be spread with dust layer to make them "as passable as
possible." North side residents who walked downtown to work, shop, or
school had two options. They could either walk the considerable distance
around the pit, or they could be daring and walk the railroad tracks over
the pit, which had not collapsed with the rest of the road.